Happy New Year!
by WhatTheSchmuck
Summary: Lara spends her first New Years' Eve married to Sam away at a conference in Massachusetts.


**Based on a prompt I received on Tumblr. Special thanks to Reasons Lost for editing!**

 **All feedback is appreciated!**

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Lara had never been one for travelling—or rather, she had never been one for travelling alone. She'd been to the United States many times; her wife had come from there. When they were in college together, they'd spend the holidays in either New York or Chicago. But that was just it: Sam had always been with her whenever she'd gone to America, and Lara had to admit, it was strange going alone for a change. However, she'd been given the chance to speak to some of the world's most renowned archaeologists at Harvard. It wasn't a chance that she could pass on.

At first she hadn't even wanted to go to the conference. She'd had a nagging suspicion that she'd only been invited because of her surname, which bothered her. She didn't want people knowing her for being a Croft, she wanted to be known for being Lara Croft. If not for Sam's intervention, she more than likely would have stayed in England for the New Year. For one, she knew that if she went she'd have to leave Sam behind; Sam's father was having her shoot footage in the U.K. for a documentary his company was working on. Lara also wasn't particularly keen on leaving because she'd be gone for hers and Sam's first New Year's Eve together as a married couple.

"Lara, seriously, just go!" Sam had said when she made mention of staying home for the holidays, "This is an awesome opportunity! Even if they _did_ invite you just because of your dad, this could be your chance to make a name for yourself. Prove that you deserve to be there for being you."

Sam had a point. The conference would give her a stage to present her theories and demonstrate her knowledge. It was a way to improve her standing in the archaeological community. So, to Boston she went, while Sam stayed behind to continue working on her father's documentary.

* * *

Despite Lara's initial misgivings, the conference went surprisingly well, and as she sat in her hotel bed on New Years' Eve, she felt content-satisfied, even. And yet, any positive emotions she felt were greatly marred by the empty space that occupied the bed beside her. The previous few days had been wonderful, she only wished that Sam had been there to share it all with her.

But maybe Sam could be there?

Lara swung her legs over the edge of the bed and sauntered to the desk in the corner of the room to retrieve her laptop. Once she had what she wanted, she settled back into her bed and flipped the screen up in her lap. After signing in, she opened her Skype window to find that Sam's status was set to online. She opened up hers and Sam's chat window and typed a message into the chat bar.

 _Are you home?_ She hit the enter key, leaned back into her pillow, and waited for a response. She didn't have to wait long. A moment or two later, Lara saw the words _Sam Nishimura is typing…_ pop up in the window.

 _Yeah, I am. Winston says hi! :)_ Lara smiled to herself and keyed in her response.

 _No parties tonight?_ She inquired.

 _Nah. Filming for dad has me exhausted. I'm enjoying some peace and quiet for a change._ Lara chuckled to herself at the thought of Sam enjoying tea and biscuits with Winston while waiting for the the clock to hit midnight. Her fingers hovered above the keyboard hesitantly as a second thought flashed through her mind. Sam had to be ungodly levels of tired to voluntarily forego a social gathering of any type. Perhaps she should let her wife get the rest she clearly needed? Lara bit her lip and drafted her next response.

 _I hope you're not too exhausted for a call?_ Almost as if on a cue, the call tone blared through her speakers and made her jump so badly that her computer nearly fell off her lap and onto the floor. When her heart had finally slowed after the initial shock, she clicked the "answer with video" button and was met with Sam's tired but smiling face a little over a couple of seconds later. Just the sight alone made Lara grin widely until her face hurt.

"You look happy," Sam remarked, "I'm guessing the conference went well, then?"

"It did," Lara affirmed, "but it all kind of felt meaningless without you there." Sam gave her a sympathetic frown.

"I know what you mean... The Manor's too big for one person-"

"Well, Winston and the rest of the staff live there as well," Lara interjected.

"You know what I mean." Sam laughed quietly before her facial expression became noticeably somber, "I just miss you is all. It sucks being apart, even if it's only for a week." Lara sighed.

"I know. We'll get through it though, I fly back on the third and when I get home we can sit in the theater, eat junk food, and watch Imagine Me and You together."

"I'm holding you to that offer," Sam said seriously, "...I really do miss you though. I should have told my dad to sit on this stupid documentary and rotate." Lara burst out laughing at that and found herself praying that none of the hotel's other occupants in the vicinity would file a noise complaint.

"You and I both know that you couldn't have done that," she said, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes, "that documentary is just as important if not more important for you than the conference was for me." Sam rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Yeah, I know. He's just a shit is all. But enough about the documentary, how was the conference? I want details!"

"It was good," Lara said earnestly, "they all seemed to be rather impressed by my work on Roanoke Island."

"That's awesome!"

"One person, Doctor Jones, seemed particularly interested and asked if I wanted to go out for a drink and discuss my research in more detail."

"Are you going to take him up on that offer?" Sam raised a brow.

"It might be worth it. He's a very prominent figure in the field of archaeology and his occupation is rather similar to mine now that I think about it." Lara took a moment to scrutinize the woman on screen with a frown, "you're not jealous, are you?"

"What makes you think that?" Sam said a little too quickly. The corners of Lara's lips turned upwards slightly.

"It's purely academic, Sam. I married you for a reason." Sam took a moment to lay back on the couch that she was sitting on and set her computer on her lap before responding.

"And what reason is that?" She asked playfully.

"Well," Lara cleared her throat, "you're beautiful, kind, passionate about your work, and hearing you laugh never fails to make my day better." To her perplexion, Sam scowled at her through the camera.

"Damnit Lara, now I _really_ wish you were here. I kinda wanna kiss you, and kinda wanna rip your clothes off…" Lara found herself laughing again, and in the background she could hear the sounds of Sam's own laughter.

"Plenty of time for that when I get back, love," Lara chortled.

"Just remember that you said it, not me," Sam said almost immediately. Lara smirked and shook her head.

"We'll see," she said, brushing several loose strands of hair out of her face.

"We'll see?" Sam asked, befuddled, "What do you mean we'll see?"

"It depends on whether or not I'm in the mood. Back rubs usually help…" Lara had to resist the urge to laugh at Sam's expression of complete despondence.

"But…" Sam began.

"Yes, I do have one of those."

"No...well, yes but you're acting like one right now."

"Well if that's what you think, why not kiss my ass?" Lara asked in a couth manner. At this, Sam stuck her bottom lip out and pouted with a _hmph_. "Stop that," Lara warned. Tears began to well up in Sam's eyes, and even though Lara knew they were forced she was completely helpless against Sam's merciless sulking. "Okay, okay!" Lara finally burst out when she felt like crying herself, "Just stop already, you win!"

"I knew you couldn't resist." Sam winked at her through the camera.

"Speaking of acting like a butt…" Lara grumbled.

"Shush! You love me and you know it!" Lara looked at her and smiled softly.

"Yeah, I do…" she glanced at the clock on the bottom right corner of her screen, "Also, Happy New Year, Sam." Sam stared at her blankly.

"What? It's only 7pm there."

"But it's midnight in England," Lara pointed out.

"That's not how it works!" Sam protested, "You only say 'Happy New Year' when it's actually midnight where you're at!"

"Oh sod off with that! If I'm saying it to somebody else it's proper to go by the time zone they're in!" Sam's expression of pure frustration was laughable.

"But you can't say it if it's not actually the new year for you yet!"

"That's like saying I can't say happy birthday to you when it's not your birthday where I'm at-it just doesn't make sense! It's still your birthday, so I should say 'happy birthday,' right?"

"If that's how it is then Facebook should notify me of somebody's birthday when it's actually midnight for them instead of when it's midnight for me." Lara resisted the urge to facepalm.

"That's _Facebook_ , Sam! You can't use social media as the basis for your argument!"

"At least I have evidence to support my side of the issue!" Lara stuck her hands out in frustration.

"But...social media?! Really?!"

"No evidence, no argument," Sam said with apparent glee.

"I...but...that's not…" Lara spluttered before visibly deflating in defeat, "you're incorrigible."

"And you're adorable when you're angry," Sam said cheerfully, "relax, sweetie, I'm just messing with you!"

"Just as long as you know you're wrong," Lara said as a matter of fact.

"Whatever, you're a goofball."

"So are you, yet here we are," Lara said as she absentmindedly fiddled with her wedding band. Sam smiled.

"Here we are," she repeated with a yawn and a stretch that was accompanied by a small squeak that made Lara's heart swell. When Sam had settled back into her spot on the couch, her expression was one of tired contentment.

"You should get some sleep," Lara said, "you've had a long day."

"I kinda don't want to, though," Sam whined.

"I can always call you in the morning when I wake up?" Lara suggested.

"Okay," Sam said without hesitation.

"Okay," Lara grinned, "well, Happy New Year, Sam. I'll talk to you in the morning, then. And hey, I love you."

"I love you too, Lara. Happy New Year." With that, warm smiles were exchanged and the call ended, leaving Lara alone and content in the suddenly not so hostile silence. With a small yawn, she set her laptop down on the nightstand, flipped the lights off, and settled back into bed, deciding that some peace and quiet sounded pretty lovely just then.

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 **You can find me under these usernames/handles on the following sites:**

 **DeviantArt: lexbabe88**

 **Tumblr: LexCroftManor**

 **Twitter: LexCroftManor**

 **AO3: WhatTheSchmuck**


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